Almost a year later on the 22nd of January 2013
5am and after several months hitting the books as hard as he ever did in his years
at Elsenburg and phoning up and pumping dry every conceivable contact that he
could find, Toit Wessels is ready for the biggest step in his career since
trading in fruit trees for vines in 1998. A proper Ridgeback Viognier MCC!
So why Viognier specifically for our Methode Cap Classique
where Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is the norm? At first glance Viognier grapes
are exactly the opposite of what one needs when trying to produce a world class
MCC as the grape tends to be quite phenolic (Tea Leaf) and very aromatic!
Well three reasons:
Firstly, Chardonnay is normally used because of its neutral
flavour which is ideal as one wants the focus of the wine’s taste to be on the
delicate yeast flavours developed during bottle fermentation and not on those
flavours normally associated with the grape cultivar itself. A lesser known
fact is that Viognier grapes only develop their flavour at the very end of its
ripening cycle and therefore harvesting early one gets very neutral flavours
perfect for MCC production and by whole bunch pressing the very soft juice
extraction avoids any excessive phenolic flavours.
Secondly, Pinot Noir is traditionally added to the mix to
provide body to bubbles in the form of tannins lacking in Chardonnay. Once
again Viognier grape skins have lovely white wine tannins which are an ideal
substitute and gives our MCC a delicate body to complement the fine yeasty
flavours and delicate mousse.
Lastly our unique terroir on the back ridge of Paarl
mountain allows us at Ridgeback to grow a damn fine Viognier and it would be a
sin not to exploit this wonderful cultivar to its fullest potential.
So, early harvesting of hand selected bunches of Viognier
from the greener portion of the vineyards, whole bunch pressing for soft juice
extraction and some 10% barrel fermenting with a little natural yeast
fermentation for even more character. Some blending before bottling and then a
very long 22 month wait with its every so often ¼ turn. The final adding of a
fine dosage (made up of some secret ingredients) during the disgorging and voila,
a truly impressive sparkling wine and another first for Ridgeback!
But don’t take my word for it, the proof is in the pudding
as they say so pop a bottle today and taste for yourself!